D&D: How Not To Die
Death comes for us all. But in D&D, you can evade your fate with the right preparations. Here are five ways not to die.
Dungeons & Dragons is full of creatures that will kill you if they get the chance. But fortunately you’ve got an entire arsenal devoted to making sure they never get the chance.
Here are some of the best ways to not die in D&D.
Death Ward
Let’s start with one of the most surefire ways to not die in D&D. Death Ward grants a creature eight hours of “protection from death.” Which sounds vague, but fortunately there’s a pretty clear meaning.
The spell prevents you from dropping to 0 hit points (keeping you up at 1) or it negates one effect that would instantaneously kill the target. It only works once, but there are plenty of ways to gain access to this spell.
And if you’re prepping for a big boss fight, this is a great way to give yourself the edge.
Aura of Life
This spell bathes an area in “life-preserving energy.” Which means that for up to 10 minutes, the caster carries a 30 foot radius field that prevents creatures from having their hit point maximums reduced, while also automatically restoring 1 hit point to each non-hostile creature that starts its turn in the aura with 0 hit points.
With this spell in place, you’ll never have to worry about failing death saves, you’ll just have to hope your enemies can’t attack you twice while you’re down.
Sanctuary
They can’t kill you if they can’t attack you. And with Sanctuary, they won’t be able to attack you in the first place. As long as you play by Sanctuary’s rules, which are: don’t make an attack, cast a spell that affects an enemy, or a spell that deals damage to another creature.
Play by those rules and any creature who wants to target you has to make a Wisdom save in order to actually go through with it.
Regenerate
This spell is another fire and forget it death proofing spells. The creature targeted gains a number of hit points back, but also regenerates 1 hit point at the start of each of its turns.
Even severed “body members” will be restored after two minutes. Sure it only lasts an hour, but unlike most regeneration effects, fire or radiant damage or necrotic damage won’t actually stop this.
Spare the Dying
Perhaps the easiest, most accessible way not to die. This simple spell is a cantrip, meaning once you know it, you’ll never not be able to cast it.
Touch a creature at 0 hit points, and stabilize them. It’s fast, it’s simple. It just plain works.
Happy Adventuring
